All of Mattituck/Southold’s previous boys lacrosse games against Rocky Point may have been forgettable from the Tuckers’ perspective, but Saturday’s game is one they will surely remember for years to come.
Mattituck trailed for most of the non-league game, falling behind by two goals on four occasions. That only set up set up the dramatic finish. READ
The Long Island Science Center announced Tuesday that it has officially moved to a new location in Rocky Point. In 2013, the organization revealed its plan to move to a larger building from its location at 11 West Main St. in Riverhead. READ
Rocky Point staved off a second-half rally from Mattituck/Greenport/Southold to register a 12-8 non-league boys lacrosse victory at home Monday afternoon.
Junior attackman Tom Hoeg led the Tuckers (2-0) with four goals as the visitors pulled to within 10-7 on Tim Schmidt’s goal — the Tuckers’ fourth in a row — with 10 minutes 55 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
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TUCKERS 6, EAGLES 1
Garrett Malave brings a lot of tools in his tennis bag. He has great footwork, which comes in handy for leverage in hitting shots and court coverage (there aren’t many shots he cannot get to). He strikes shots with force, plenty of spin and deadly accuracy. He uncoils to deliver an improved serve that challenges opponents with its power and movement.
In addition to all of that, Malave looks bigger and stronger than he did a year ago. Something else for opponents to worry about. (more…)
Tanner Zagarino of Mattituck/Greenport/Southold was a 17-8 winner over Rocky Point’s Anthony DeVito in their bout at 182 pounds. (Credit: Garret Meade)
SUFFOLK COUNTY DUAL MEET CHAMPIONSHIP | EAGLES 41, TUCKERS 23
It was a homecoming for Cory Dolson, just not the sort of one he had hoped for.
Dolson, a former all-county wrestler who had worn the Rocky Point High School singlet for four seasons before his graduation in 2001, returned to his alma mater on Friday for the first time in his official capacity as Mattituck/Greenport/Southold’s coach. The occasion was the new Suffolk County Dual Meet Championship, which involves the top 16 teams in the county. The 12th-seeded Tuckers, the League VII champions, were paired against No. 5 Rocky Point, the League V champion, in a first-round contest that didn’t go the way Dolson would have liked.
Rocky Point’s John Drews, left, running shoulder to shoulder with Southold’s Alex Lincoln. (Credit: Garret Meade)
Don’t sell the Southold First Settlers short.
Sure, the First Settlers may get caught playing shorthanded every now and then, but they can’t be faulted for coming up short on effort. (more…)
GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Greenport/Southold’s Adrianna Chandler attempts to clear the ball in front of her goaltender, Brandi Gonzalez.
EAGLES 5, CLIPPERS 1
It was only several years ago when goals were mighty hard to come by for the Greenport/Southold field hockey team. It was a problem, a real big problem.
Clippers coach Rebecca Lillis remembers one goalless drought when she was the team’s assistant coach and the coach at the time, Todd Gulluscio, posted a sign on one of the goals that read, “Scorer Wanted.”
Well, the Clippers can be thankful those days are gone. Goals are more plentiful these days, and some wins are coming along with them. The Clippers have totaled 27 goals in 10 games this season, with freshmen Madison Tabor and Toni Esposito accounting for 22 of them.
Indeed, the Clippers have more firepower and are more competitive than they were during those bleak days of offensive offense. Even so, they were no match for a strong Rocky Point team on Friday. The Eagles, who reached the Suffolk County Class B championship game last year, struck for two quick goals by senior forward Ashley Faulhaber within the opening 2 minutes 29 seconds and coasted, 5-1, at Greenport High School. The Clippers wore pink shirts in the “Play for the Cure” game, which raised money for breast cancer research.
Faulhaber found the goal again with 2:16 left in the game to cap the scoring and give herself a hat trick. Her second goal came on a penalty stroke.
Rocky Point (6-5, 6-4 Suffolk County Division III) had dropped three of its previous four games and was clearly eager to get back on the winning track. It took the Eagles only 26 seconds to light up the scoreboard. Faulhaber smacked in a rebound off the pads of goaltender Brandi Gonzalez amid a cloud of dust on the dry grass field.
Later in the half, Gonzalez made consecutive stops before Nickalina Sciulla followed up and drilled a shot in for a 3-0 lead.
The Clippers, coming off a 12-0 blowout of Hampton Bays, spoiled Olivia Accardi’s shutout bid when Tabor notched her team-leading 13th goal of the season with 9:50 to go before halftime. Katie Tuthill took a penalty corner, sending the ball to her sister, Sarah Tuthill, who knocked it toward Tabor to finish.
Jenna Sanossian and Faulhaber tacked on second-half goals to keep the game well out of the Clippers’ reach.
The Clippers (4-6, 4-6) were denied a goal in the second half when a blistering shot by Sarah Tuthill was deflected nicely by Accardi.
Rocky Point outshot the home team, 17-5, keeping the Clippers’ goalies busy. Gonzalez, after making 9 saves in the first half, was replaced at halftime by Katie Tuthill, her backup who played in goal for the first time this season and stopped 4 shots.
NOTES The Clippers will hold their third alumni game on Oct. 26 at Greenport High School at 12 p.m. Any interested former Clippers players may contact Rebecca Lillis at [email protected]
GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Southold senior Ben Glew, who sat out last season with a broken collarbone, is the only First Settlers bowler with prior experience as a starter.
EAGLES 32 1/2, FIRST SETTLERS 1/2
It was a new beginning for the Southold High School boys bowling team in more ways than one.
Southold, with a new lineup and a roster that is short on experience, was beaten soundly, 32 1/2-1/2, in its season-opening Suffolk County League V match against Rocky Point on Thursday at Port Jeff Bowl. Rocky Point won all three games, 835-653, 887-597, 816-583.
If nothing else, the First Settlers saw evidence that they have a lot of work ahead of them.
“What I anticipated is about what happened,” Southold coach Sal Campo said. “We fell short of the scoring that we’d like to get to, but we didn’t have many practices before this game, so it was a little tough.”
None of the five bowlers in Southold’s starting lineup were starters last season. In fact, only one of them, Ben Glew, had started a high school match before. Glew, a senior, had been a regular starter during his freshman and sophomore seasons, but sat out last season with a broken collarbone.
Meanwhile, Rocky Point was led by an impressive sophomore, Kyle Zawaski. Zawaski, a virtual strike machine, recorded three successive 202 games for a career-high 606 series. He registered 18 strikes and seven spares.
Rocky Point coach John Schumacher never saw a player bowl the same score in three straight games before. “There’s always firsts,” he said. “In the world of coaching, you see truth is stranger than fiction. You see amazing things.”
GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Devyn Standish was part of Southold’s all-new starting lineup on opening day.
Zawaski, who finished with a 155 average last season, his first on the team, was definitely on. In the last two games of practice the day before, he shot a 192 and a 197. It was encouraging stuff for the Eagles.
“It gives me goosebumps because it’s only a sign of things to come,” said Schumacher.
Rocky Point also received significant contributions from sophomore Rachel Magnuson and senior Will Serviss. A 222 game by Magnuson anchored her 561 series. She also converted a match-high 13 spares. Serviss bowled a 226 high game to start off his 525 series. Mike Bellissimo turned in a 420 series.
Schumacher sounded thrilled with his team’s opening-day performance. “It’s a tremendous way to start the season,” he said. “It sets the tone for the season. It really keeps the morale high.”
The top scorer for Southold was junior Justin Kirincic with a 428 series. His 167 in the opening game was the highest single-game score posted by any of the First Settlers. Evan Van Duzer (389 series), Glew (368) and Devyn Standish (326) were the other Southold bowlers who played in all three games. Kirincic and Van Duzer had 10 strikes each.
This new season brings a new home for Southold. The First Settlers have left Wildwood Lanes in Riverhead and now practice and play their home matches at the new All Star Lanes in Riverhead. Their first home match will be Tuesday against East Hampton/Bridgehampton/Pierson.
“The switch between lanes is a lot different,” Kirincic said. “It is a lot to get used to.”
Following the season-opening loss, Kirincic said: “I think we could definitely do better throughout the year. I think we just have to pick up our spares more.”
The day wasn’t a total loss for Southold, though. Every game helps, even a loss.
Campo said, “The pressure is on them and they know that they’re going to have to step it up a few notches.”
GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Eugene Allen, shooting over a pair of Rocky Point players, scored 18 points in the Southold Invitational final.
SOUTHOLD INVITATIONAL FINAL| EAGLES 64, TUCKERS 39
Don’t despair.
That, in essence, was the message coach Paul Ellwood delivered to the players on his Mattituck boys basketball team following their 64-39 loss to Rocky Point in the Southold Invitational final on Friday night.
“I’m not really disappointed about tonight,” Ellwood later told a reporter. “Everything that went wrong is very fixable, easily. It just requires time in the gym. So, we’re just going to go back to the drawing board, and I think we’re going to be O.K.”
Perhaps the Tuckers can also find solace in that the team they lost to is no slouch. No, this is not nearly the same Rocky Point team that was a pushover last season. “We left plenty of room for improvement from last year,” said Rocky Point coach Jim Jordan.
With this victory, their third in as many games, the Eagles have already matched their 2010-11 win total. Their future looks promising.
“We have a feeling in our guts that we can make it far,” said Dan Soranno, the junior guard who received the tournament’s most valuable player award in recognition of his efforts. Soranno stung Mattituck for a game-high 19 points. He also collected 6 assists, 6 rebounds and 6 steals.
Balance is a big reason why Rocky Point should make a dent in Suffolk County League V this season. The Eagles have genuine outside threats in Joe Kingston, Steve Soltysik and Soranno. They can also lob the ball down low to Andreas Vouliakis, their 6-foot-8 junior center. That’s not a bad deal.
GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Tom Sledjeski of Mattituck attempting a shot while Rocky Point's Andreas Vouliakis defended.
“We have to have our guys hitting from the outside because a lot of teams are going to be doubling down on our big man,” Jordan said. “To open that up, we have to hit from the outside.”
They did on Friday. It helped the Eagles continue their flying start to the season by winning the ninth annual Southold Invitational for a record fourth time. Rocky Point won the tournament title three straight years, from 2006 through 2008, before Southold won it two years in a row and Mattituck triumphed last year.
The Eagles had a lot to feel good about. They shot quite well — 51 percent (26 of 51) from the field and 46.7 percent (7 of 15) from three-point range. They controlled the boards, outrebounding Mattituck by 33-19. They limited their turnovers to 12.
“They can shoot,” Mattituck guard Eugene Allen said. “We had to worry about the big 6-8 kid and all the shooters they have.”
Mattituck (1-1) opened the game on 9-for-12 shooting and led by two points early in the second quarter after back-to-back buckets (the second a three-pointer) by Allen made it 21-19. That was Mattituck’s last lead of the game, though, as Rocky Point surged ahead on the strength of a 16-3 run.
“We came out a little slow, but then we got aggressive and started hitting our shots,” Soranno said. “That opened us down low, and we just kept up the aggression the whole time.”
Soltysik earned a place on the all-tournament team after putting up 16 points in the final. The Eagles also received 13 points from Kingston.
Allen, Mattituck’s representative on the all-tournament team, had an 18-point night, with 16 of those points coming in the first half. His cousin, K. J. Pertillar, had 9 rebounds and 6 assists to go with 4 points. Tom Sledjeski brought the Tuckers 14 points.
Mattituck is virtually a brand new team after losing nine players from last season’s Long Island champion squad. Regardless, Allen said progress is being made.
“For a young team, I think we’re playing pretty good,” he said. “We could do a lot better. Our big issue is playing as a team, crashing the boards, and getting rebounds.”
One thing neither side did was go to the foul line often. Rocky Point took six free throws and Mattituck had only three.
“In our league, if we don’t get to the foul line, we’re not going to win a lot of games, so that’s got to be a priority for us,” Jordan said. “Tonight we were hitting jump shots, but you didn’t see us drive a whole lot, and that’s something that we have to do.”
And how about that outside shooting? How did the Eagles become such accurate shooters?
The answer is a simple one: practice.
Soranno said, “We shoot about a hundred shots a day and just keep shooting.”
At this rate, they may shoot themselves into the playoffs.
BOB LIEPA PHOTO | Mattituck's Lauren Guja had both feet off the ground after launching one of her five shots against Rocky Point on Tuesday evening at Diamond in the Pines.
The Mattituck High School varsity girls soccer team has known Liz Lasota primarily as a defensive player, but it wasn’t always that way for Lasota. Before playing at this level, Lasota routinely played as a forward or central midfielder. Now, as the four-year varsity player prepares for her upcoming senior season, she is getting reacquainted with the other end of the field, and she likes it.
Lasota, who split her junior season at sweeper and central midfield, has been getting a look at forward with the Tuckers’ summer league team.
“To be honest,” she said, “I was put on defense for so long that I just want to go up and score goals.”
Because of work commitments, Lasota hasn’t played much with the Tuckers this summer, but she did make an impression Tuesday in her third appearance with the team. She scored twice — her only two goals of the summer — as the Tuckers closed out their Town of Brookhaven Summer League regular season with a 3-0 shutout of the Rocky Point Eagles at Diamond in the Pines in Coram. It was a must-win game for the Tuckers (3-5-2), who need help in order to reach the playoffs. They left the field Tuesday night not knowing whether they would have a playoff game on Thursday or not.
Lasota took five shots, tying her for the game-high with teammate Lauren Guja, and scored a goal on either side of halftime in the 60-minute contest.
BOB LIEPA PHOTO | Liz Lasota has acquired a taste for goal scoring. The Mattituck senior netted two goals against Rocky Point.
It’s still uncertain what position Lasota will play this fall.
“Liz is like the major utility player,” Mattituck Coach Ed Barbante said. “She started off in the back as a sweeper. Then she moved to center mid. So, she might be a forward. I don’t know. Nothing’s etched in stone yet.”
With her speed (Barbante said Lasota is one of the fastest players on the team along with Nicole Zurawski) and the ability to shoot with either foot, Lasota has shown she can play up top and give opposing defenders trouble. If Lasota is asked to be more of a scorer this year, well, that’s just fine with her.
“I love it,” she said. “I just love like being able to try and score because I feel I have more of a rage to want to go and score.”
Lasota opened the scoring in the 21st minute, putting away a ball from Alex Berkoski, the first of Berkoski’s two assists. Goalkeeper Cheyenna Hoffman got a hand on the ball, but was unable to prevent the hard shot from flying into the net.
The second Lasota goal made it 3-0 with 1 minute 51 seconds left in the match. Lasota latched onto a through ball from Guja and showed composure in finishing.
“It’s a good feeling,” Lasota said afterward. “It’s a really good feeling.”
It was the first time that Barbante, who missed five games this summer while away on a honeymoon, had seen Lasota play this summer. He liked what he saw. “She looked very good today,” he said.
Sandwiched in between the Lasota goals was a nice strike by Shelby Britt in the 44th minute. Berkoski laid off a ball for the junior, who found the right corner of the goal with her left foot.
“You can’t draw a more picture-perfect goal than that,” said Barbante.
The Tuckers looked good. Goalkeepers Abigail Graeb and Stephanie Reisenberg were so well-protected by their defense that neither needed to make a save. Mattituck outshot Rocky Point by a 12-1 count, and the Eagles (3-7) didn’t get their only shot until Whitney Owensby hooked a free kick wide to the right of Mattituck’s goal in the 51st minute.
The Tuckers are considerably changed. They lost 13 seniors, including some eight starters, from the team that walked off the field for the last time following a 1-0 loss to the Center Moriches Red Devils in last year’s Suffolk Class B final at Diamond in the Pines. That means more than a few positions are up for grabs. “A lot of positions are available,” said Barbante.
One of them could very well be won by Berkoski, a junior forward who underwent back surgery at the end of last season.
“She’s very smooth on the ball,” Barbante said. “She’s very confident with the way that she plays the game. She doesn’t overdo things. She simplifies the game.”
And then there is Lasota, an all-county player who would undoubtedly be an asset at just about any position.
Lasota plays on the front line for her club team, Sound Beach Barnsley, and has worked on things that a forward needs to, such as making different runs and creating space for herself.
You know, just in case.